My new novel, 'The Secret Intensity of Everyday Life', will be published by Quercus Books in February 2009. I'll be adding a page about this book to this web site shortly.
If you'd like me to come to your school and talk about my books for children, please contact Hayley Epps at my publisher, Egmont, who coordinates my school visits diary, on hepps@euk.egmont.com. I do about one talk a month, so please understand if I can't make it.
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Posted by Marc
13/11/2008 17:39:43
Hello Sir! Over the last several months, I have been playing with an idea, off and on. Sadly, I don't have the time to really sit down and play it out, nor do I have the creative writing capacity it would require. I visualize a script that has many parallels with well-known movies and stories such as First Knight, Robin Hood, a little touch of Dragon Heart, but with a distinct presence of the martial arts. I have a very strong sense of what the major story line should be- The protagonist, the antagonist, the major obstacles, and the outcome... but focusing on these things without the smaller details and character development, I'm looking at a two, perhaps three page short story. With your experience working with the film industry, and your contacts with other screenwriters, what would you estimate the probability to be of finding someone to collaborate, to fill in the holes and 'decorate' my plot, and make it attractive to potential filmmakers? How would you recommend one go about such a task? Do you have any suggestions or recommendations, cautions, warnings, or even complaints that I should be so presumptuous as to bother you with such trifles? Thanks!
William Nicholson:
There are many examples of people collaborating on scripts, but almost certainly you would need to find someone who is at the same stage as yourself. Any more experienced writer would expect to provide the story framework for themselves. The character development and the decoration, as you call it, is a very large part of the work. With a generic tale it becomes the part that distinguishes the script from others that may be in a similar area. So do ask around among the people you know, but I suspect that you'll find it hard to get a suitable collaborator. If so, I suggest you do it all yourself. You say you don't have the creative writing capacity, but you may be surprised to find that there's more in you than you know. After all, you've already got excited about your plot. That shows you have creative juices flowing in you. Finding the time is a tougher one: all writing does take a commitment of time. But maybe you can squeeze the odd moment here and there, to let it evolve. It's an intensely satisfying experience. Give it a go.
12/11/2008 17:57:45
I enjoy your books very much, and would like to know where i can get a DVD of the film Firelight?
William Nicholson:
You may find this hard to believe, but I don't know the answer. I wasn't even told DVDs had been made available. I love this film, so it's a ridiculous situation to be in. I shall try to find out. UPDATE I've just taken the simple step of looking on Amazon, and I find they do have a few copies available there.
11/11/2008 23:16:42
Have you read George Orwell's essay Politics and the English Language? I read it and found it very interesting and was wondering what you as published writer agreed with any of his statements. '1984' is a fantastic book and I think you and Orwell both have very concise yet imaginitive writing styles.
William Nicholson:
I know the essay well and agree with all of it. You couldn't pay me a finer compliment than comparing my writing with Orwell's. All his essays bear re-reading - he was an unusual example of a thinker with very clear vision. And 1984, of course, is an astonishing triumph of intellectual imagination. Orwell, Ruskin (Unto This Last), Thoreau (Walden), George Eliot (Middlemarch), Tolstoy (everything), Chekhov (everything) - these are the greats in the field of exploring true human values - which is what underlies all lasting writing.
11/11/2008 17:21:29
I have seen a reference to 'Christmas Drinks Party' that is attributed to you and I wonder where I can find this.
William Nicholson:
Are you referring to some book or play called Christmas Drinks Party? If so, it's nothing to do with me. Sorry.
11/11/2008 15:18:45
In Windsinger when pinto is taking her first exam why does the examiner refer to as "him" even thogh Ira replies by refering to her as she. or is it just a mistake in my book and he doesnt actually refer to as a male.
William Nicholson:
No, it's not a mistake. The Examiner has failed to realise Pinto's sex, which is just another reason the Hath family hates him.
